


Jitterbug

by Lenasaurous



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Canon Compliant, If you couldn't guess from the summary, M/M, a little ooc towards the end, bit of angst, but I was basing it off of the manga, but I'm just being self indulgent here, mainly fluffy and stupid, some tears, technically takes place during first episode of second season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24295867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenasaurous/pseuds/Lenasaurous
Summary: “Are you alright?” He leant over to try and get a look at Senku’s face. “You sound kinda rough. You aren’t sick, are you?”“I’m not sick, don’t be stupid.” Senku sighed before finally lifting his head to look up. “I’m fine.”He definitely wasn’t fine. Gen couldn’t have missed the splotchiness around his eyes, how red his nose was, the way Senku shuddered as he inhaled.“Oh.”
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Comments: 12
Kudos: 203





	Jitterbug

The short trek through the forest from Ishigami Village to the Kingdom of Science was finally a quiet one. The village had been awake late into the night, all abuzz with ideas of media and technology; singing with one another, fitting the new, hope-filled song to their primitive instruments.

Gen had to admit that it was fun; seeing the village so lively for once after several months of hard work and suffering from winter. He hadn’t heard so much music in a long time and he couldn’t help but hum as he walked the small but well-trodden path to the Kingdom of Science, his quiet voice echoing off of the trees the only sound around him.

It was pleasant, if a little late for comfort. He had anticipated taking off earlier but the village had refused to call it a night. He couldn’t blame them, he felt as elated as they did after the events of the day, but he didn’t want to be followed and had to wait them all out. Being out late still put him on edge (he knew it wouldn’t happen again, but the feeling of being stabbed stuck with a person) but the lights from outside the storage hut were very soon in view.

On pure instinct he made a beeline for the hut, but soon realised that that wasn’t quite right. He looked up and saw the roof to the observatory shut. As a general rule, Senku would be up later than this charting stars or whatever he did with the telescope. Then again, Gen supposed it was cloudy out. You couldn’t see much of the stars in weather like this. He felt a little foolish for assuming things like that and moved to return to the village.

As he turned though, something caught his eye.

It was faint, and anyone else would have likely missed it, but Gen noticed the flicker of candlelight from inside the laboratory.

So, he _was_ awake.

Gen smiled victoriously and skipped over to peek inside.

Senku was hunched over the desk, having pulled up a stool, and was fiddling with the record player beside him, looking to be entirely unproductive. Gen couldn’t see his face, his arm was obscuring it, but he figured Senku couldn’t have been doing anything important.

“So, this is where Senku-chan’s been avoiding the festivities,” he sang by way of greeting. Senku jumped when he spoke, which made Gen hesitate. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually taken Senku off guard like that.

A nagging voice at the back of his head said something was wrong. Something was definitely _off_ , but Gen chose to ignore it. Whatever mood Senku was in, he was sure his plan would be able to fix it. It was genius on par with his own after all.

“It was a shame you couldn’t be there, even someone like you would have had a good time.” Senku had claimed to have work to do when they all decided to go off for drink and music; Gen supposed he’d been here ever since. But as Gen approached the desk, Senku still refused to turn to look at him, opting instead to stare intently down at the desk.

Senku rubbed at his eyes and coughed before answering. “That so? Guess I’m sorry I missed it.” His voice was a little hoarse and unsteady, and now Gen was starting to regret not turning back earlier.

He paused before continuing, opting to drop his earlier cheer. “Are you alright?” He leant over to try and get a look at Senku’s face. “You sound kinda rough. You aren’t sick, are you?”

“I’m not sick, don’t be stupid.” Senku sighed before finally lifting his head to look up. “I’m fine.”

He definitely wasn’t fine. Gen couldn’t have missed the splotchiness around his eyes, how red his nose was, the way Senku shuddered as he inhaled.

“Oh.”

Ever since Gen had met him, Senku had always seemed like a pillar of emotionless strength, the kind of person who just wasn’t deterred by anything. This was someone who had come back from death itself with a smirk on his face.

But now he was… well, vulnerable.

It was clear how uncomfortable that made the both of them, but Senku especially so. He was fidgeting relentlessly and his eyes were darting around the room, looking everywhere but at Gen. Compassion was something Gen had never felt towards Senku, and the sudden surge of it now made him uneasy.

Nevertheless, compassion was compassion, and Gen had never been the type to ignore it. Especially where the people he cared about were concerned, and he cared about Senku more than he was willing to admit.

Without invitation he pulled up another stool and sat facing Senku. “I’m not going to make you talk about it-”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

Gen rolled his eyes. “Exactly. But still…” He crossed his arms in his sleeves and leant his elbows against the countertop, the chill from the glass reaching his skin through his thick coat. “I think it’s bad for you to be alone at the moment.”

He met Senku’s unimpressed stare head on, noticing that one of his eyes was bloodshot. He half expected Senku to tell him to go away, to go back to the village and forget about him, that it was none of his business. And Gen would have done so if asked.

But instead, after a moment, Senku appeared to give in and ran a hand down his face, his shoulders shuddering slightly as he sighed. “Maybe you’re right.” He slumped against the desk, pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

“Of course, I am. If I’m not here, who’s going to stop you from misshaping your eyeballs,” he said, pulling Senku’s hands from his face.

Senku chuckled and complied, moving to rest his chin on top of his arms so he was looking up at Gen. “Why are you here, anyway? It’s late.”

“I wanted to discuss something, but it can wait. It’s not that important.”

“Sure?”

Gen nodded.

“If you say so,” Senku mumbled, letting his eyes close. He sighed and stilled. At the very least it seemed he’d long calmed down before Gen had arrived. Gen didn’t know what he’d do if he had arrived in the thick of it.

“If you’re going to sleep, you should probably go to bed,” Gen pointed out. He didn’t much fancy trying to drag a sleeping Senku up the ladder to the hut.

But Senku shook his head. “Nah, I’m not really tired. Tell me about what the village was doing. Sounded loud.”

Gen was dubious but complied. “Singing, dancing, drinking, that kinda stuff. I can’t say I participated much but it was nice just watching…” He trailed off and looked over at the record player, the glass record still on the turntable. “Your Dad was kind of a genius, huh. All these years later and he’s managed to give hope to everyone.”

When Senku didn’t respond, Gen looked over and instantly realised his mistake. He should have known that was what this was all about. He’d assumed Senku had come to terms with it months ago but he supposed hearing the voice of a lost loved one would take its toll on anyone.

“Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Shut up,” Senku instantly shot him down. He pushed himself up from the table and stared at the little glass disc. “You were just trying to be nice.” He reached over and picked it up, gently turning it over in his hands.

Gen nodded and said nothing else. It didn’t seem right to make mindless conversation as he normally did when they were alone. Besides, he didn’t want to risk putting his foot in his mouth again; it was unnerving, being around an emotionally unstable Senku, and it seemed to have tarnished his silver tongue.

For as long as Senku wanted it, Gen was happy just to sit there and watch as he spun the record in his hands. The thing itself was incredible to behold simply for what it was. So incredible that he was okay with ignoring the way that it kept reflecting the candlelight into his eyes each time the reverse side caught it.

“This thing is pretty good, but…” Senku narrowed his eyes at the record. “It’s kind of disappointing, in a way.”

Gen raised an eyebrow. “Seems a little rude to insult the one artefact we have left. Let alone one created by your own father.”

“Yeah, but it’s completely typical of him to have neglected to create a B-side to this thing.” Senku paused in turning the record and ran his fingers over the blank side. “Could have doubled the length of the message. Said something meaningful.”

Gen thought that the gift of a lost music was about as meaningful as one could get, at least in that pompous, artsy way of looking at things. It had done its job and more at the very least. He was lost to think what other meaning Senku was trying and failing to wring out of the thing.

“I mean, I know _I’m_ not sentimental, but that old bastard was about as sentimental as a person gets. And there he goes… blowing his one chance to embarrass me.”

Watching the way Senku’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the glass disc tighter and tighter made Gen begin to worry for the thing’s safety. If it didn’t survive, his plan went out the window.

“I mean, this is the man who was still showing baby pictures of me to people when I was thirteen, but here we are, four thousand years later, and he left half of his last words fucking _blank?_ ”

Gen wrenched the disc from Senku’s hands, startling him out of his rant.

Senku stared back in shock, realising exactly what he’d been doing, and Gen wasn’t surprised to see fresh tears replacing the blotchy stains from before.

“I don’t think the villagers would forgive you if you broke this,” Gen said, setting the record off to the side with a dull clink of glass on glass. “And I doubt you’d forgive yourself, either.”

Senku took another deep, shuddering breath before hanging his head and angrily rubbing at the tears, sniffling in a fruitless attempt to stop his nose from running.

“I might say that you look pathetic,” Gen began, reaching into one of his pockets. “But then I’d be a bit of a hypocrite.” He pulled out a rag and handed it to Senku. He never thought he’d miss tissues quite as much as he’d come to.

Senku narrowed his eyes at him but took the rag all the same, not hesitating to clean his face.

Gen leant his cheek against his palm and waited for Senku to calm down. It didn’t take long, but neither of them said anything for a long while afterwards.

The faint pattering of rain began to fill the lab after a while, and Gen glanced outside to where a light shower had started to wet the dried mud and melt the days old snow.

“I forget, sometimes…”

Gen’s attention was brought back inside at the sound of Senku’s voice, quiet and less confident than it usually was. He was looking down at the now dirty rag and clenching it tightly in his hands. At least that wasn’t at risk of shattering.

“…I forget the sheer scale of this shit.”

Gen nodded. If anyone was going to understand, it was him. “I tend to find the times that I forget a lot happier than the ones where I remember.”

Senku nodded, sniffling again and wiping at his face. It was weird, when Senku cried it seemed a lot less pitiful and a hell of a lot more soul destroying than when anyone else did; it made Gen’s gut wrench. He wanted to be comforting, hoped he was being so, but for all his talent with words, trying to be comforting put him up a river without a paddle. At least, trying to comfort Senku seemed to have this effect.

“I’m usually too busy to remember,” Senku continued. “This is only the third time it’s really gotten to me since waking up.”

“Count yourself lucky,” Gen smiled wryly and shook his head. “I’ve probably cried more since waking up than you have in your entire life.”

He was hoping Senku would laugh at his self-deprecation, or at least smile, but instead he just looked grave. “Seriously?”

Gen shrugged. “Well, yeah. Things have been pretty shitty after all. Most of us don’t have a snowball’s shot in hell of restoring civilisation single-handedly. It was all just…”

He drummed his fingers against the glass before deciding to continue. “I cried non-stop for the first few days, not that I let anyone know. It’s been kind of on and off since, much less since I settled here but, y’know. Ruri caught me a couple of weeks back, _that_ was embarrassing.

“It was worse at the start though. Back when I thought that everything was just… gone.” He sighed and sank so his head was resting on his forearms. “Honestly, the first time I didn’t feel like absolute crap was when I first saw the date you’d carved in that tree.”

Senku did laugh this time. “It doesn’t matter how many times you tell me that, it’s never going to stop being cringey.”

“I know, but it is true. The idea that someone as insane as you could exist gave me a bit of hope that I’d be okay. And that doubled when Tsukasa told me he thought there was a chance you were still alive.” He paused. “I don’t think there are words for how happy I was when I found you.”

Senku took a moment to respond. “You never actually planned to rat me out to Tsukasa, did you?”

Gen smiled. “Not for a second.” He pushed himself back up and met Senku’s eyes. “And I never regretted it, either. I genuinely believe I’d be hopeless without you.”

Senku looked embarrassed at that. Gen didn’t blame him, it had possibly been a little overkill, but it wasn’t false either.

Despite not being ashamed of the fact, Gen began to regret the admission when Senku continued not to say anything.

The ensuing silence grew almost oppressive. Gen tried to ignore it, distracting himself by tracing the outlines of the glass slabs on the table. Still, it was difficult not to notice the uncomfortable tension that had blanketed the room.

It wasn’t until Gen had started to consider simply leaving as a viable option, that Senku finally spoke again.

“I err… I don’t really know what I was expecting from today.”

Gen was at an utter loss to what Senku meant.

“The record,” Senku clarified at Gen’s visible confusion. “I’m not lying when I say I’m not a sentimental person. I wasn’t all that excited or upset when I woke up, let alone coming back from the brink of death. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy but…” He frowned. “I don’t know. I guess I was just hoping for something… _more_.”

“What about that story thing? I thought there was a message at the end of that for you.”

Senku looked up abruptly. “How did you know about that?”

“Ruri.”

“Oh, right.” He shrugged. “It was definitely more. But again, it just didn’t feel like he said anything he really wanted to. I knew that man better than he knew himself, and that was not the kind of thing he’d say without a word limit. He didn’t even squeeze a bad pun in there.”

“If he made it too long, they might not have remembered it.”

“You know as well as I do how ridiculously long those hundred stories are.”

“Even so.”

Senku rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He reached over and took the record back, returning it to the turntable. He spun it a couple of times, letting it turn without sounding.

Eventually he pushed it away from himself, the box making a quiet scratching sound as it moved.

“I think I would have been happy if he’d at least said goodbye.”

Gen just nodded, not too sure of what else to do. He knew Senku wanted closure, but there wasn’t much Gen could do to help with that. That kind of acceptance would have to come with time and trying to speed it up was pointless.

He looked around the room, casting about for something he could do as the silence continued to drag on. This time, he feared that if he let the silence go on too long Senku would be the one to go first. Leaving it like this felt wrong somehow, but he had no idea what else he could do.

He tried to think what made people happy, but that tended to vary and Senku was definitely not typical in that regard. But, in a moment of utter lunacy, he thought of how happy the villagers had been earlier and figured that taking a shot was better than never trying in the first place.

He stood and held his hand out to Senku.

“Dance with me.”

Senku blinked up at him. “Err… what?”

“Dance with me.”

“Outside?”

“Yes.”

“It’s raining.”

“And?”

Senku continued to stare up at him, nonplussed. “ _Why_?”

Gen at least had the decency to blush a little at that. “Because you being depressing is making me uncomfortable, and I’m hoping that doing something desperately stupid will take your mind off of it.”

“At least you’re honest.” Senku continued to study Gen’s outstretched hand. “You know the record won’t play automatically, right? We’re not going to have any music.”

“Who needs music?”

“Dancing typically calls for music.”

“Then we’ll sing.”

“I think you mean _you’ll_ sing.” Senku took Gen’s hand and let him haul him to his feet.

Gen beamed, not having expected Senku to agree in a million years, and pulled him out into the rain.

It was cold. Freezing, even. But it wasn’t heavy rain and the feeling of water trickling down Gen’s neck was strangely electrifying, boosting his courage further.

He started aimlessly pulling Senku in circles, emulating what he used to with his friends back in middle-school. It was harder without music but the rhythm of the rain was satisfactory for him.

Senku not so much.

“I thought you said you were going to sing.”

“You just want to make fun of me.”

“Obviously.”

Rolling his eyes, Gen started singing the song he’d heard repeated endlessly all night. He wasn’t a confident singer, he was pitchy and his voice wasn’t at all trained for it, but he really didn’t care; by this point he’d thrown his dignity in the trash, pissed on it, then set it on fire.

“You’re a crappy singer.”

Gen started laughing midline. “I’d like to hear you do better.”

Knowing Senku was about to make some bad quip, Gen yanked him around a hundred-eighty degrees and startled him into singing along too.

Senku was no better than he was but by this point neither of them really cared. It started off a little awkward, but they were both tired, kinda sad and very loopy, and it all quickly morphed into some twisted version of fun.

When they ran out of lyrics to Lillian’s song, Gen picked a random song he knew the words to and started anew, relieved when Senku seemed to at least know some of it.

It had been so long since Gen had been able to embrace the world he’d lost and indulge in the things he no longer had, and here, slipping about in the rain and mud, tunelessly belting out line after line of music he once knew, was possibly the first time in months that he felt as if nothing in the world was out of place.

Senku was the last person he’d ever pictured doing anything like this with him, but in the moment, Gen didn’t want anyone but Senku there with him.

They continued for who knows how long, only stopping when their feet were finally too tired to move anymore and their throats started to grind like sandpaper.

Soon, the rain was the only sound competing with their heavy breathing, both leaning on each other as they tried to regain their breath.

“Oi, Gen.”

Gen looked up at Senku. The way his hair was plastered against his head was ridiculously endearing, and Gen was so far out of his right mind that, unlike normal, he didn’t care that the thought had ever occurred to him. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.” His face softened in a gentle smile. “For… everything. Like, since you arrived.”

Gen shook his head. “That everything was entirely self-serving, you don’t have to thank me.”

“I’m doing it anyway.”

“If you must.”

“Yeah, I think I do.” Senku elbowed him. “So, shut up and accept it. Having you around ended up meaning more than I thought it would. I’m not going to act as if I couldn’t get on without you but, yknow… I wouldn’t want you gone for the world, or anything beyond it for that matter.”

That sobered Gen up. That was the last thing he’d expected to hear from _Senku_. Coming from him, well, Gen didn’t quite know what it meant, but it was _definitely_ significant.

Gen couldn’t do much else other than continue to stare in mild surprise.

Eventually, Senku groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “I must be insane,” he muttered to himself before abruptly smashing his lips against Gen’s.

Mild surprise amplified into pure shock at that. Normally, he would have been too stunned to react, but Gen was still on a high and took no time in throwing his arms around Senku’s neck and returning the kiss full force.

It was clumsy and messy and wet, _very_ wet, but Gen couldn’t care less. It was one of those things that Gen had been ashamed to even think about, but now that it was actually happening, the few times he’d allowed his mind to wander paled in comparison to this. It was kinda gross and nowhere near as romantic as he’d pictured it, but it was real and he was beyond happy.

It felt like an eternity before they had to surface for air, both of them being inexperienced and without a clue of what they were doing, and still it didn’t feel like it had lasted long enough.

Thoughts rattled around Gen’s head as he slowly came back to earth, basking in the surrealness of everything that had just happened. They were still so close that Gen could feel Senku’s breath fall down his neck; he was starting to doubt any of this was even real and not just some alcohol induced hallucination, ignoring the fact that he didn’t drink.

But then he sneezed, and the moment was over.

Senku tried very hard not to burst into laughter, but he was failing miserably. “I think you’re catching a cold.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Yours.”

Gen pouted and crossed his arms. “I didn’t expect you to agree to something this stupid in the first place.”

“I thought we’d already established that you’ve driven me to madness?” Senku had that infuriating smirk on his face, but Gen just couldn’t find it in himself to get mad about it. Maybe Senku wasn’t the only crazy one. “But as a decidedly sane action, I’m going to suggest we get dry before you die of some unknown stone age disease.”

“I’m not going to die.”

“Yeah, because we’re getting you dry.”

Gen rolled his eyes but let Senku pull him towards the hut; he wasn’t an idiot. “Alright, but I demand we huddle for heat conservation.”

“If you must.”

“I think I do.”

“ _Shut up._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> This thing has been sat on my pc for like, two months, you have no idea how weirdly relieving it is to finally put it up. I hope you enjoyed it, I adore this series so much and had to contribute with the only skill I have (although this wasn't the best show of it). The title came from the song I based the story off of; it's good, highly recommend a listen, it's by Hachiya Nanashi.  
> Let me know if you spot any SPAG errors, and hmu if you wanna talk, I'm desperate to talk about this show with *someone*  
> Thanks for reading!


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